The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically attaching cover slips to microscope slides having specimens for microscopic examination, comprising a first magazine receiving a plurality of slides, a means for feeding one slide at a time from the magazine to a station for application of adhesive, a means for placing a cover slip on a slide provided with adhesive, and a means for removing the slide with attached cover slip from the station.
Such application of cover slips or cover glasses on microscope slides especially is carried out in hospitals and in medical laboratories, wherein microscope slides having different types of medical specimens, such as cut specimens, cytologic smears, etc. must be covered by protective cover slips. This work was previously, and is partly even now, carried out manually, and it is then a tedious and strenuous work. In many cases it is necessary that the specimens are kept wet by means of a solvent, such as xylene, which is miscible with the adhesive used. The use of such a solvent is, however, injurious to health and represents an environmental risk, since it is harmful to the respiration and is absorbed by the body by skin contact. It is therefore strongly desirable that this work be taken over by apparatus which is able to carry out the work automatically.
There are previously known different types of apparatus for application of cover slips on microscope slides having specimens for microscopy, and as examples of prior art in the field reference may be made to the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,480,504, 3,930,928 and 4,455,188. The latter patent specification discloses an apparatus of the type stated in the introduction. This apparatus is based on the use of cover slips of plastics, there being provided a supply spool on which there is wound a cover strip ribbon of e.g. plastic foil, and this ribbon is advanced to an application station at which the ribbon is cut into suitable lengths which are successively applied to and pressed together with associated microscope slides. The use of plastics as a cover material has, however, the drawback that scratches easily arise in the plastics, and this results in optical errors in the analysis of specimens on microscope slides which are covered by plastic material.
In addition to the above-mentioned weakness in the use of a plastic material, it has been found that many of the known apparatus and machines for the present purpose either are encumbered with functional faults and therefore are less reliable than desired, or that they have a too small capacity relative to the investment cost.